Hitler's house may become office of Austrian charity

Jan. 30, 2013
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European Union (L) and German flags fly at half mast outside the Reichstag building, hosting the German lower house of Parliament Bundestag, in Berlin on January 30, 2013 prior to a memorial to be held by deputies for the victims of the Nazi regime, and the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp on January 27, 1945. / Adam Berry, AFP

by USA TODAY

by USA TODAY

VIENNA (AP) - An Austrian charity that helps immigrants reportedly plans to set up an office in the house where Adolf Hitler was born.

The villa in the Upper Austrian town of Braunau has been empty for more than a year since a workshop for the mentally disabled moved out. A Russian parliamentarian threatened last year to buy and raze it - a plan doomed to fail as the building is under historical protection because of its Renaissance origins.

The Kurier, a mainstream newspaper, in its Thursday edition cited unnamed officials of the Interior Ministry, which now leases the house, as being open to subletting to the Volkshilfe charitable organization.

The charity's head, Karl Osterberger, says that renting the house to an agency like his would send a "great signal."

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